Sygyndy

Sygyndy (Iradi, "pressings"; official spelling sıgındı) is a clear grape brandy distilled from the skins, stems and pips left after wine is pressed or drawn from the jars of kömmö. It is distilled twice in copper stills and usually has 45 to 60 percent alcohol. Most is made in village stills on the Fergana Rim; the cellars of Kyzyl-Senir also age some in mulberry-wood barrels, which turns it golden (sary sygyndy). In the Soviet period it was sold as "grape vodka".^[1]

Sygyndy is the drink of toasts in the south, where the sözchü at a feast may call for it instead of vodka. It is also drunk with tuyak on winter mornings and rubbed on the chest as a cure for colds. Cheesemakers wash küp panyr with it as it ages.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ Talas Basin Agricultural Directorate (2022). Viticulture and Fruit Processing in the Lower Naryn District. Talas.
2. ^ Talas State University Press (2012). The Iradi Table: Recipes and Customs of the Talas Valley. Talas.